US Citizen married to Canadian Citizen -- what now?

by M
(USA)

Hi there.

In January, I recently married my lover of two years.

As of March, my six months in Canada was up - I traveled back down to the US to spend some time with my family. Main reason being is that I do not have a passport, and was let through with a birth certificate and SS card. I know, I got lucky.

Where do I go from here?

I'm getting my passport.

When will I be able to go back to Canada?
When/where should I start a Marriage Visa or Permanent Residency card?

I don't know what to turn to.

If I start either of these processes there, would I be able to extend my stay while waiting on paperwork? I heard of a couple (US/Canadian) who did their paperwork in Buffalo because it was faster, but remained in Toronto while waiting. I can't remember if they needed to extend once or not.

Please, any information would help.

Time frames would be nice as well.

But I would honestly like to know if there's a time frame as to how long I would have to stay out of Canada for, after staying six months?

Thanks